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Jan Palach Memorial
On 16 January 1969, university student Jan Palach set fire to himself and died in protest against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia the preceding August. The exact spot the martyr fell is marked by a wooden cross in the pavement that seems to have suffered a small earthquake beneath it. The 16 January is now commemorated annually.
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Jewish Cemetery
Franz Kafka is buried in this cemetery, which opened around 1890 when the previous Jewish cemetery - now at the foot of the TV Tower - was closed. To find Kafka's grave, follow the main avenue east (signposted), turn right at row 21, then left at the wall; it's at the end of the 'block'. Fans make a pilgrimage on 3 June, the anniversary of his death.
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Jewish Town Hall
Next to the Old-New Synagogue, this town hall was built by Jewish Ghetto mayor Mordechai Maisel in 1586. It's worth noting for its clock tower, which has one Hebrew face where the hands run 'backwards' like Hebrew script.
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Jindřišská Tower
This Gothic bell tower, dating from the 15th century but rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 1870s, dominates the end of Jindřišská, a busy street running northeast from Wenceslas Square. Having stood idle for decades, the tower was renovated and re-opened in 2002 as a tourist attraction, complete with exhibition space, shop, café and restaurant, and a lookout gallery on the 10th floor.
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John Lennon Wall
After his murder on 8 December 1980 John Lennon became a pacifist hero for many young Czechs. An image of Lennon was painted on a wall in a secluded square opposite the French Embassy (there is a niche on the wall that looks like a tombstone), along with political graffiti and Beatles lyrics.
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Jubilee Synagogue
The colourful Moorish façade of the Jubilee Synagogue, also called the Velká (Great) synagóga, dates from 1906. Note the names of the donors on the stained-glass windows, and the grand organ above the entrance.
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Kampa Museum
Housed in a renovated mill building, this gallery is devoted to 20th-century and contemporary art from Central Europe. The highlights of the permanent exhibition are extensive collections of bronzes by Cubist sculptor Otto Gutfreund, and paintings by František Kupka, a pioneer of abstract art. The most impressive canvas is Kupka's Cathedral, a pleated mass of blue and red diagonals suggesting a curtain with a glimpse of darkness beyond.
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Klaus Synagogue & Ceremonial Hall
Both the baroque Klaus Synagogue and the nearby Ceremonial Hall contain exhibits on Jewish ceremonies and other traditions, most interesting for the historian or devout visitor.
The hall was formerly the Old Jewish Cemetery mortuary and is now part of the Jewish Museum. Built in 1912, the Ceremonial Hall is the site of an interesting exhibition on Jewish traditions relating to illness and death and is a good complement to a visit to the Old Jewish Cemetery (especially if you're feeling slightly morbid).
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Klementinum
To boost the power of the Roman Catholic Church in Bohemia, the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand I invited the Jesuits to Prague in 1556. They selected one of the city's choicest pieces of real estate and in 1587 set to work on the Church of the Holy Saviour (kostel Nejsvětějšího Spasitele), Prague's flagship of the Counter-Reformation and the Jesuit's original church.
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Kobylisy Anti-Fascist Resistance Memorial
This grassy quadrangle of earthen embankments, ringed by trees and overlooked by apartment blocks, was once the Kobylisy Rifle Range. More than a hundred Czechs were executed here by firing squads during WWII. Today it's the site of a national memorial; a huge bronze plaque lists all the names of the dead, and - such was Nazi bureaucracy - the dates and times of their executions. Take tram No 10, 17 or 24 to the terminal at Ďáblická, then walk west for 10 minutes along Žernosecká.
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Křižík Fountain
Each evening from spring to autumn the musical Křižík Fountain performs its computer-controlled light-and-water dance. Performances range from classical music such as Dvořák's New World symphony to modern works by Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis, rock music by Queen, and theme music from popular films. Call or check the website for details of what's on. The light show is best after sunset - from May to July go for the later shows.
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Lapidárium
An outlying branch of the National Museum, and an often overlooked gem, the Lapidárium is a repository for some 400 sculptures from the 11th to the 19th centuries. The exhibits include the Lions of Kouřim (Bohemia's oldest surviving stone sculpture), parts of the Renaissance Krocín Fountain that once stood in Old Town Square, ten of Charles Bridge's original statues, and many other superb sculptures.
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Letná Gardens & Terrace
There are great views from this vast park, but the socialist overtones of its huge concrete terrace are almost as interesting. In the 1950s the world's largest statue of Stalin was built here, only to be blown up in 1962. Today, the space is occupied by skateboarders, a beer garden and artist Vratislav Karel Novák's huge metronome, symbolising the passage of time.
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Lobkowicz Palace
Built in the 1570s, this aristocratic palace now houses a branch of the National Museum, with a good collection on Czech history from prehistoric times until 1848. Exhibits include the sword of executioner Jan Mydlář (who lopped off the heads of 27 rebellious Protestant nobles in Old Town Square in 1621) and some of the oldest marionettes in the Czech Republic, but to be honest this is a place for history buffs only.
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Loreta
The square's main attraction is the Loreta, a baroque place of pilgrimage founded by Benigna Kateřina Lobkowicz in 1626, and designed as a replica of the supposed Santa Casa (Sacred House; the home of the Virgin Mary). Legend says that the original Santa Casa was carried by angels to the Italian town of Loreto as the Turks were advancing on Nazareth. The duplicate Santa Casa, with fragments of its original frescoes, is in the centre of the courtyard
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Lucerna Palace
The most elegant of Nové Město's many shopping arcades runs beneath the Art Nouveau Lucerna Palace (1920) between Štěpánská and Vodičkova streets. The complex was designed by Václav Havel (grandfather of the ex-president), and is still partially owned by the family. It includes theatres, a cinema, shops, a rock club and several cafés and restaurants.
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Lucerna Passage
This 1920s Art Nouveau shopping arcade, running below the Lucerna Palace between Štěpánská and Vodičkova streets, was designed by ex-president Havel's grandfather, but is now better known for a café, club and the David Černý sculpture Horse (1999). Hanging from the atrium, this wry companion to the Wenceslas Sq statue has its Wenceslas (or Václav) astride the belly of a dead, upside-down steed. At least he's stopped short of flogging it.
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Maisel Synagogue
The neogothic Maisel Synagogue replaced a Renaissance original built by Maisel and destroyed by fire. It houses another exhibit of ceremonial silver, textiles, prints and books.
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Malá Strana Bridge Tower
There are actually two towers at the Malá Strana end of Charles Bridge. The lower one was originally part of the long-gone 12th-century Judith Bridge , while the taller one was built in the mid-15th century in imitation of the one at the Staré Město end . The taller tower is open to the public and houses an exhibit on the history of Charles Bridge, though like its Staré Město counterpart the main attraction is the view from the top.
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Maltese Square
References to the Knights of Malta around Malá Strana hark back to 1169, when that military order established a monastery in the Church of Our Lady Beneath the Chain on this square. Disbanded by the communists, the Knights have regained much property under post-1989 restitution laws, including the Lennon Wall.
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Mánes Gallery
Beneath the tower is the Mánes Building (1927-30), which houses an art gallery founded in the 1920s by a group of artists headed by painter Josef Mánes, as an alternative to the Czech Academy of Arts. It still has one of Prague's better displays of contemporary art, with changing exhibits. The building itself, designed by Oskar Novotný, is considered a masterpiece of Functionalist architecture.
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Maroldovo Panorama
The Maroldovo Panorama is an impressive 360-degree diorama (11m high and 95m long) of the 1434 battle of Lipany (in which the Hussite Taborites lost to the Hussite Utraquists and Emperor Zikmund's forces). It was painted by Luděk Marold in 1898.
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Memorial to the Victims of Communism
This striking sculpture by Olbram Zoubek has male figures in various stages of desiccation descending a concrete staircase. Below them, a metal line down the centre of the steps counts the victims: 327 shot while trying to escape across the border, 170,938 driven into exile, 205,486 arrested, 248 executed and 4500 who died in prison.
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Miniature Museum
The 'write your name on a grain of rice' movement may have undermined the respectability of miniature artists, but Siberian technician Anatoly Konyenko will restore your faith with his microscopic creations. Konyenko used to manufacture tools for eye microsurgery, but these days he'd rather spend seven-and-a-half years crafting a pair of golden horseshoes for a flea. See those, plus the world's smallest book and strangely beautiful silhouettes of cars on the leg of a mosquito. Weird.
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Mirror Maze
Below the lookout tower is the Mirror Maze, also built for the 1891 Prague Exposition. As well as the maze, which is good for a laugh, is a diorama of the 1648 battle between Praguers and Swedes on Charles Bridge. Opposite is the Church of St Lawrence (kostel sv Vavřince), which contains a ceiling fresco depicting the founding of the church in 991 at a pagan site with a sacred flame.
